“A passionate story of rebuilding lives and working to find a place in the wild frontier during the years following the American Civil War. A rugged, heartwarming story of choices and love in the continuing saga of Redemption Mountain.”

Luke Pelletier
is settling into his new life as a rancher and occasional Pinkerton Agent, leaving his past as an ex-Confederate major and Texas Ranger far behind. He wants nothing more than to work the ranch, charm the ladies, and live a life of carefree bachelorhood.

Ginny Sorensen
has accepted her responsibility as the sole provider for herself and her younger sister. The desire to continue their journey to Oregon is crushed when the need for food and shelter keeps them in the growing frontier town of Splendor, Montana, forcing Ginny to accept work as a server in the local saloon.

Luke has never met a woman as lovely and unspoiled as Ginny. He longs to know her, yet fears his wild ways and unsettled nature aren’t what she deserves. She’s a girl you marry, but that is nowhere in Luke’s plans.

Complicating their tenuous friendship, a twist in circumstances forces Ginny closer to the man she most wants to avoid—the man who can destroy her dreams, and who’s captured her heart.

Believing his bachelor status firm, Luke moves from danger to adventure, never dreaming each step he takes brings him closer to his true destiny and a life much different from what he imagines.

Excerpt

“Hold it right there.”

Ginny froze, not recognizing the deep growl coming from behind
her.

“Put your hands up and turn around.”

She did as he asked, her heart pounding, wondering if someone had slipped by Hank to come in the front door. Slowly she turned, raising her eyes to meet those of the man holding a gun on her. Her breath caught at the sight
of Luke, his face hard, his mouth in a thin line. She could see the instant recognition dawned. He lowered the gun in a quick motion and slammed it into the holster.

“What the hell are you doing here? And why are you dressed like that?”

She swallowed the hard lump in her throat and took in a shuttering breath, anger replacing the fear she’d felt.

“You scared the daylights out of me,” she hissed and pulled the hat off her head, exposing soft brown wisps of hair which had escaped the loose bun.

He held his ground, taking in the sight of her in men’s trousers, a too big shirt haphazardly tucked inside and held together by a wide leather belt. The coat he’d given her covered the ridiculous outfit. He let his gaze
wander over her, his eyes softening at the same time his body tightened—a reaction he was powerless to control.

“What?” His voice took on a hard edge as his eyes narrowed, signaling his disbelief.

“Dax and Rachel hired me to take on Bernice’s job.”

He took a step forward, then thought better of it, crossing his arms over his chest, planting his feet shoulder width apart. Frustration warred with the desire he felt toward her. This was not what he’d expected to come home to—Ginny living at the ranch. It slammed into him that he’d see her every day, obliged to be around her, and forced to fight his constant attraction toward her. His jaw hardened as he processed the implication of her new
position. He didn’t like it. Not one bit.

“We’ll see about that.” He turned and stormed from the room, walking into the study, slamming the door behind him.

Bio

Shirleen Davies writes romance—historical, contemporary, and romantic suspense. She grew up in Southern California, attended Oregon State University, and has degrees from San Diego State University and the University of Maryland. During the day she provides consulting services to small and mid-sized businesses. But her real passion is writing emotionally charged stories of flawed people who find redemption through love and acceptance.She now lives with her husband in a beautiful town in northern Arizona.

Cowboys have always conjured up visions of a simpler way of life where honesty and commitment are valued, good triumphs over evil, integrity helps define a person, and speaking the truth rather than being politically correct is a way of life. This especially holds true for those who read historical western romance.

Today, many of these traits have been beaten down, passed over, and denigrated to the point it’s hard to identify people who possess what seemed basic within the Cowboy culture.

Cowboys represent a way of life that many have watched fall from grace as being too old fashioned or old-school. I, for one, don’t believe this hogwash.

The Cowboy culture is still just as necessary today, maybe more so, than at any previous time. It is the same culture that sustained our men and women of the Greatest Generation during World War II, and it may behoove us to consider honoring these qualities again in a time when many feel we’ve lost our way.

No matter how much our way of life has changed since those days, surmounting the challenges we face as human beings—the trivial and mundane as well as the great and life altering—still demands strength of spirit, courage, dedication, discipline, and honor.

A man of discipline may once have been the sort of man you could count on to rise with the sun each and every day to do the hard work of keeping his ranch running. Now, a man with the same quality is one you can count on to be diligent at his craft, attentive to his family, and fastidious with his habits. A man with honor, a man of his word, is admirable whether the year is 1940 or 2015.

Having an attitude of self-sufficiency and determination got the men of the past through difficulties foreign to us now, but those are the same qualities that get today’s self-sufficient men to fix their own cars and houses, and keep their heads above water in times of personal turmoil.

Virtues like these are what really lie at the heart of Cowboy culture. They’re universal, and though they may be expressed differently from year to year, they’ll never go out of style.